Georgia O´Keeffe´s Legacy in New Mexico

New Mexico Museum of Art

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2008

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Georgia O'Keeffe's Legacy in New Mexico

Santa Fe, NM—Museum visitors will soon have the opportunity to intimately experience the artwork of one of America’s greatest painters, Georgia O’Keeffe. Presenting works from their permanent collection, The Museum of Fine Arts will display O’Keeffe’s rich blue skies and beautiful stark landscapes in the Beauregard Gallery. Georgia O’Keeffe’s Legacy in New Mexico, a permanent exhibit curated by Joseph Traugott,features gems that have been out of public view for quite some time. The show opens to the public on Friday, February 17, 2006. Friday evenings are always free at the museum.

Born on a farm in Wisconsin, O’Keeffe lived in Virginia, Texas, and New York before settling in northern New Mexico, which she affectionately referred to as “her land.” Inspired by the vast spaces and brilliant hues of the high desert, the artist once said, “All the earth colors of the painter’s palette are out there in the many miles of badlands.”

In 1940, O'keeffe Purchased a house at Ghost Ranch near the town of Abiquiu. From her window, she often gazed out onto the flat-topped mesa called the Pedernal, which she painted many times throughout her career. Speaking of her beloved mesa, she said, "It's my private mountain; it belongs to me. God told me if I painted it enough, I could have it."

A painting inspired by O’Keeffe’s mesa—titled “Red Hills with the Pedernal”—will be on display in the new exhibition. Other works will include “Red Hills”, “Blue River”, and “Dark and Lavender Leaf.” The pieces highlight O’Keeffe’s spare vision, with flattened forms and harmonious hues.

O’Keeffe’s paintings will glow in the recently refurbished Beauregard Gallery, a period setting in the Museum of Fine Arts that offers a unique context for viewing her works. The museum’s collection of O’Keeffe paintings is well-loved in the community, and underscores her accomplishments in New Mexico, which have become icons of the Southwest.